Developments in speech recognition technologies support more natural language interaction between services, systems and customers than that previously supported. One of the most promising applications, Automatic Call Routing (ACR), seeks to determine why a customer has called a service center and to route the customer to an appropriate service agent for customer request servicing. Speech recognition technology generally allows an ACR application to recognize natural language statements, minimizing reliance on conventional menu systems. This permits a customer to state the purpose of their call “in their own words”. In light of its effectiveness, speech recognition capabilities are now being implemented into service agents where callers are routed by the ACR.
In order for an ACR application to properly route calls, the ACR generally must interpret the intent of the customer, identify the type or category of customer call, and identify the correct routing destination for the call type. In some instances, the information obtained by the ACR application has applicability beyond mere call routing. In such instances, call center efficiency may be increased by enabling the use of such information in other call center areas.